City Plan
by Ann McAfee
In 1928 Harland Bartholomew submitted Vancouver’s first city plan to council with these words: “Few cities’ possess such a combination of nearby natural resources, a splendid harbor, a terrain ideally suited for urban use, an equable climate, and a setting of great natural beauty.” Over the years there have been several plans for Vancouver. The two plans which most clearly defined a comprehensive vision for Vancouver were the 1928 plan prepared by Bartholomew and Associates, a consultant firm from St. Louis, Missouri and CityPlan, a 1995 plan resulting from broad citizen input.
In 1926 the Vancouver Town Planning Commission, a group of nine citizens, Major L.D. Taylor and representatives from the school, harbor, park, and sewer boards hired Harland Bartholomew to prepare a comprehensive town plan for Vancouver.
Bartholomew planned for a city of one million people focused on the “great seaport” of Burrard Inlet. The Fraser River banks and False Creek would be industrial. Businesses would spread evenly over the central business district to “prevent undue traffic congestion.” The nearby West End would provide apartments close to jobs.
“The retention of Vancouver as a city of single family homes has always been close to the heart of those engaged in the preparation of the plan.” West Point Grey was seen as a “desirable residential district” and “those who gain their livelihood by manual labor could find in the Hastings Townsite and in a replanned South Vancouver a place where they can build modest homes.”
The Bartholomew plan was never formally adopted by city council. Nevertheless, over the years much of Bartholomew’s vision was realized. Apartments covered the West End. The post-war boom brought new families to South Vancouver.
By the 1970s, well before the city reached Bartholomew’s planned one million people, the 1928 vision became obsolete. What had changed?
The Bartholomew plan was prepared by professionals with little input from citizens. Residents now wanted a say in the future of their neighborhoods. Citizens said “no” to a freeway to downtown through Strathcona. Kitsilano residents objected to plans to redevelop the area for apartments.
Through the 1970s and 1980s citizens and city staff worked together to prepare neighborhood plans. As the downtown area grew nearby heavy industry no longer fit around False Creek. City council initiated imaginative plans to redevelop False Creek for housing and parks.
However, neighborhood and mega-project plans were prepared without an overall vision of Vancouver. By the early 1990s it became clear that the plans did not necessarily fit into the kind of city people wanted. While people said they wanted more rapid transit, no neighborhood plans showed a rapid transit route through their neighborhood.
In January 1992 Mayor Gordon Campbell announced the city “will commence a new city plan. It must be a plan that reflects the Vancouver of today and, even more importantly, that projects a Vancouver for tomorrow”. Council wanted the plan to address all issues facing the city and to involve a broad range of people including those who do not normally participate in city planning. This became the mandate of CityPlan.
The process Vancouver used to develop CityPlan was very different from Bartholomew’s day. Indeed, the process was so unique that the City of Vancouver won national and international awards for the innovative public process which involved thousands of citizens.
The CityPlan process started in November, 1992 with city council inviting people from all parts of the city--including members of clubs, business associations, resident groups and interested members of the community--to meet in small groups called city circles. Their task was to suggest ideas for Vancouver and how to make them happen.
Over 450 city circles involving some 5,000 people were formed. Youth formed 150 of the circles. More than 70 circles involved multi-cultural groups who participated in languages other than English. The circles worked for three months to prepare ideas. Artists helped the groups display their ideas at a three day “Ideas Fair.” Over 10,000 people came to the fair. The ideas raised issues and choices for Vancouver. During 1994 thousands of citizens helped make difficult choices for Vancouver’s future. They talked about whether the city should grow or not. They talked about city services and who should pay for them.
During the three year process over 20,000 people actively participated in preparing CityPlan and more than 100,000 people said they “felt involved.” In 1995 Vancouver city council adopted CityPlan as a new vision for Vancouver to guide policy decisions, corporate work priorities, budgets and capital plans.
What kind of city is envisioned by CityPIan? CityPlan keeps much of what people like about Vancouver while seeking to accommodate a share of regional growth and recognizing financial constraints.
Downtown Vancouver will continue to be the main office centre for the province. Rather than offices spreading throughout the Burrard peninsula, jobs are concentrated into the downtown core and central Broadway. New housing in False Creek North, Downtown South and Coal Harbour provides opportunities for 50,000 more people to live within walking distance of downtown jobs and activities.
The downtown needs a nearby “fridge” and “closet"--places for food, supplies and equipment to be sorted, stored and distributed. The port also needs backup facilities. Many industrial areas near the downtown area are being redeveloped for new communities. CityPlan keeps the remaining industrial areas--the False Creek flats and the area south of the port--for city-and port-serving uses.
In the past the city’s residential areas offered one kind of housing. There were either apartments or there were single-family areas. Neighborhoods seldom offered both family and adult housing. As people’s needs changed they had to move to other neighborhoods. CityPlan seeks more choice of housing in each neighborhood. In apartment areas more new units will be designed for families but at higher densities than traditional family housing. In single-family areas there will be more townhouses and apartments to meet the needs of households without children.
In 1928 Bartholomew found residents valued single-family areas. CityPlan participants also valued neighborhood character but they also wanted more choice of housing. The CityPlan solution is to concentrate new development in “neighborhood centres,” leaving much of the existing neighborhood intact. The new centres will likely grow from existing shopping streets. They will provide housing choice, more jobs close to where people live and local services to reduce travel distances.
Pollution and congestion are problems facing all growing cities. It is not possible for everyone to commute by car. CityPlan supports GVRD plans to increase transit and provide more opportunities for walking and biking. The region has one rapid transit line--SkyTrain from downtown Vancouver to Surrey. There are plans for new lines along Broadway through Burnaby to Coquitlam, between Coquitlam and New Westminster and from Richmond to downtown Vancouver to be built during the next 30 years.
Over the long term Vancouver’s new “neighborhood centres” could be linked by transit to each other and to the downtown core. More immediately, in 1995, city council adopted a “greenways plan” to provide walking and biking routes across the city. Much of the seawall route is in place. Bikeways link the Downtown Eastside via Adanac St. to Boundary Rd., west via Broadway to UBC and south via Ontario to the Fraser River. The first new greenway will be the Ridgeway route from Boundary Road across the city, linking Queen Elizabeth Park and Van Dusen Gardens with Pacific Spirit Park on the west.
CityPlan changes the way the city develops and delivers community services. In the past community services were developed and delivered from city hall. CityPlan creates “integrated service teams” which link city staff with neighborhood residents. Community police offices locate staff in the neighborhood to work with residents and businesses. Citizens participate in defining the services they need and in resolving local problems.
CityPlan keeps some of the qualities envisioned by Vancouver’s first plan. CityPlan also sets some new directions by: increasing housing variety throughout the city to meet people’s needs and make better use of existing city services locating jobs closer to where people live to reduce travel maintaining a diverse economy moving people by transit, walking, and biking changing the delivery of city services to a neighborhood-based model and supporting stronger neighborhoods through the development of neighborhood centres, local character zoning, community-based policing and integrated service teams.
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